" ALMACANTAR  (ALMACA'NTAR)   n.s.[An Arabick word, written variously by various authours; by D’Herbelot, almocantar; by others, almucantar.]A circle drawn parallel to the horizon. It is generally used in the plural,and means a series of parallel circles drawn through the several degrees of the meridian.   ALMACANTAR’S  (ALMACA'NTAR’S)  STAFF.n.s. An instrument commonly made of pear-tree or box, with an arch of fifteen degrees, used to take observations of the sun, about the time of its rising and setting, in order to find the amplitude, and consequently the variation of the compass.Chambers. "

― Samuel Johnson , A Dictionary of the English Language (Complete and Unabridged in Two Volumes), Volume One